RW ethnolinguistic facets of the peoples of the Isle of Dread
by Travis HenryEthnolinguistic facets of the Seven Villages of the Southeastern Peninsula.
-Tanaroa = one spelling of the Polynesian god of the ocean; one of the main four gods of ancient Polynesia. See reference in this old book. And: "In New Zealand, Tangaroa appears to have been venerated under several names, such as Tangaroa-nui, Tangaroa-ra-vao, Tangaroa-mai-tu-rangi, Tangaroa-a-mua, Tangaroa-a-timu, and Tangaroa-a-roto. On other Polynesian islands, Tangaroa was known as Taʾaroa, Tangaloa, Tanaroa, and Kanaloa."
Samoan: "Tagaloa" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagaloa
Maori: "Tangaroa" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangaroa
-The various meanings of the word in Maori: https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?id ... s=tangaroa
Hawai'ian: "Kanaloa" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanaloa
Tongan: "Tangaloa" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangaloa_ ... mythology)
Tahitian: "Ta'aroa" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%27aroa
Tuamotuan: "Tangaroa"
But also Vanuatu (Melanesian): "Tangaroa"
I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly which Polynesian language uses the form "Tanaroa." But there are some Hawaiian documents (e.g. here and here) which use that spelling. So provisionally Hawaiian.
-The Cult of the Walking Dead, with its Zombie Masters = West African and Central African (thence Haitian): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie#Africa
The word "zombie" is from a Central African language, such as Kongo language nzambi (“god”), zumbi (“fetish”), or Kimbundu language nzumbi (“ghost”). But the main Voodoo cultus is from Benin, in West Africa: https://www.theafricangourmet.com/2017/ ... oodoo.html
-The Great Wall and the Southeastern Peninsula are from the King Kong series of stories, beginning with the 1933 film, which placed Skull Island off the coast of Indonesia. In various iterations of the story, there's an iconic wall across the island's peninsula for protection against the prehistoric beasts. In the 1976 remake (which was near to the time X1 was written) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_(1976_film), the island is likewise in the Indian Ocean, near Indonesia.
Other names from the Southeastern Peninsula, not yet identified:
-Kirikura, Dawa, Mora, Panitube, Burowao, Usi
Though Kirikura is similar to the name of a city in the Solomon Islands (Melanesia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirakira
Panitube and Burowao look sort of familiar, but I can't place them. Ring any bells for others?
Ethnolinguistic facets of the Village of Mantru and the renegade Taboo Island Tribe on the Central Plateau:
-"Oloron, Lord of the Skies" = Ọlọrun, Yoruba name for the traditional Supreme Being, and also for the Christian and Islamic "God." Yoruba is a Niger-Congo language, in West Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ọlọrun
-"talking chief" = Samoan term tūlāfale for a chief's assistant. Samoan is a Polynesian language.
-yams and yam beer are served in Mantru. Yams originated in West Africa. The word "yam" is from a West African language, such as Wolof ñàmbi https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yam#English
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioscorea ... _rotundata
-The village uses outrigger canoes, which are pictured on the map. Outrigger canoes were developed in Austronesia (by the ancestors of the Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian peoples): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outrigger_boat
-"Taboo Island." The word "taboo" is originally from the Tongan language. Tongan is a Polynesian language. https://www.etymonline.com/word/taboo
-the Taboo Island tribe practices tattooing and teeth filing. The word "tattoo" is of Polynesian origin (e.g. Samoan tatau). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tattoo
Though other peoples in other regions of the world (e.g. West Africa) traditionally practice a similar art of tattooing/scarification.
Other names from the Central Plateau, not yet identified:
-Mantru, Fano, Umlat
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Conclusions:
-The Seven Villages are basically an M-Polynesian people of some sort, related to the Makai (M-Hawaiian) of Ierendi. But a salient M-West/Central African cultural facet is seen in the zombie Cult of the Walking Dead.
-The Mantru People (including the renegade Taboo Island Tribe) are an M-Yoruba (West African) culture which has absorbed Polynesian cultural facets, presumably via ancient interactions with the peoples of the Seven Villages. Since the Mantru people are more isolated than the Seven Villages (in fact, the Mantru be the most isolated human community in all of Mystara!), the M-Yoruba cultural layer is the original "substratum", which was there before the M-Polynesians arrived.
The Mantru people and the zombie/ancestor-worshipping substratum people of the Southeastern Peninsula (who were absorbed by the later-arriving M-Polynesians) anciently formed an M-African continuum with the peoples of the Serpent Peninsula (with its M-East Africans and M-Central African Twa/Little People).
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BTW, I think it's wrong and arbitrary that the maps of the Isle of Dread don't mark the the Seven Villages of the Council of Chiefs of the Southeastern Peninsula with a red lined border, as a realm. The City-States near Hule get nice little red circles. And the Atruaghin Clans get a red line. Why not The Seven Villages?
Same for the Village of Mantru of the Central Plateau. It's a realm.
Names in the M-Polynesian of the Southeastern Peninsula, rendered here as M-Samoan. (Though maybe Maori or Hawaii or Tuamotuan could serve better, what do you think?)
The Seven Villages = O Nuu e Fitu
The Council of Chiefs = O le Fono a Alii Sili
The Isle of Dread/Fear = Le Motu o Fefe
[Edit: In Maori, it'd be:
The Seven Villages = Nga Kainga e Whitu
The Council of Chiefs = Te Kaunihera o nga Rangatira
The Isle of Dread/Fear = Tuhinga o Mua
Since Maori's form "Tangaroa" is closer to "Tanaroa" than is Samoan "Tagaloa" and Hawaiian "Kanaloa", maybe Maori would be best. Not sure.]
In the M-Yoruba language of the Central Plateau:
The Village of Mantru = Abule ti Mantru
The Chiefdom of Mantru = Ijọba ti Mantru
Taboo Island ("sacred island") = Erekusu Mimọ
Renegade Tribe ("rebel tribe') = Ṣọtẹ Ẹya
Central Plateau = Àrin Oke (Central Mountain)
The Isle of Dread = Erekusu ti Ìfoya